6.7 Performance Indicators

After setting targets, developing action and investment plans and the implementation of interventions it is of utmost importance to review the performance. Intermediate outcomes (performance indicators) (ITF, 2008) are valuable in predicting final outcomes (see also Chapter 5. The Road Safety Management System and Effective Management and Use of Safety Data).

Safety Performance Indicators can be used to measure progress in implementing the Safe System. They can also help to implement process-oriented road safety interventions corresponding to a wider range of public policy instruments (Vedung, 2017).

A number of possible intermediate outcome measures are specified in those chapters, for example, seatbelt wearing rates or speed monitoring. For LMICs e.g. truck rear lighting operational rates, wrong-way vehicle travel rates, proportion of length of high pedestrian areas with footpaths, rate of provision of raised speed reduction devices with high-visibility advanced signage at pedestrian crossings on arterial roads in urban areas, and more can be mentioned.

One option (Beer et al., 2021) to link these measures to adopted targets, is to develop an ‘outcome management’ framework which directly links the outputs from the strategy (i.e. what will be done) with outcomes (i.e. what is to be achieved). This is a useful approach which focuses attention on key outcomes, encourages modelling of effectiveness of outputs on final and intermediate outcomes achieved, and assists in the monitoring process.